Polarimetry – Optical Rotation vs. Specific Rotation

Polarimetry – Optical Rotation vs. Specific Rotation – What’s the Difference? By Angelo DePalma, PHD Polarimetry using Polarimeters measure the degree of rotation of polarized light as it passes through an optically active material. Polarimetry was discovered by Étienne-Louis Malus, a French engineer who was studying reflective glass. Several years later another Frenchman, Jean-Baptiste Biot,